Books are my preferred method of time travel. In just a few pages, I jump from an afternoon party at the Plaza, to a Waffle Town in the middle of a blizzard, to a barrack in Germany, to an island full of peculiar children, to a San Francisco psychologist’s office. Books take me to places where planes and trains cannot. They unveil the immense beauties of the world and teach me how to be observant. I am giddy at the fact that there is a seemingly unending reserve of stories that were, are, and will be told. Each story leaves me with a sentiment: a revival of love for reading, a few wise words, a smile, and even sometimes a flustered feeling wondering why the author blew the ending.
In no particular order, here are my top 10 books and my take away from each:
- ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald
-
“‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.’” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
- ‘Beautiful and the Damned’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald
-
“Everywhere we go and move on and change, something’s lost–something’s left behind. You can’t ever quite repeat anything…” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
- ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ by Heather Morris
-
“Hold that thought. Use it to get out of bed tomorrow morning, and the next morning, and the next.” – Heather Morris
- ‘Paper Towns’ by John Green
-
“It is easy to forget how full the world is of people, full to bursting, and each of them imaginable and consistently misimagined.” – John Green
- ‘The Defining Decade: Why your Twenties matter – and how to make the most of them now’ by Meg Jay, PhD
-
“Part of realizing our potential is recognizing how our particular gifts and limitations fit with the world around us.” – Dr. Meg Jay
- ‘The Alphabet House’ by Jussi Adler-Olsen
-
“Fear is a good friend to the truth, and a lie to the proud.” – Jussi Adler-Olsen
- ‘Miss Peregine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ by Ransom Riggs
-
“I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was.” – Ransom Riggs
- ‘Sold on a Monday’ by Kristina McMorris
-
“A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.” – Kristina McMorris
- ‘Let it Snow’ by John Green, Lauren Myracle, and Maureen Johnson
-
“Something about me has always liked the drama and inconvenience of bad weather. The worse the better, really.” – John Green
“Christmas is never over, unless you want it to be… Christmas is a state of mind.” – Lauren Myracle
“There is nothing about a bad situation that fourteen hyper cheerleaders can’t worsen.” – Maureen Johnson - ‘The Book Thief’ by Markus Zusak
-
“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” – Markus Zusak